ARC Survivor
by SpitfireUSN
Summary: What if Echo survived the explosion that had supposedly killed him? Would Fives know that somehow his closest friend and brother was still alive? Would he be able to to get back to the 501st? Find out in the ARC Survivor. (Not sure what the rating is going to be, it might change as I go)
1. Chapter 1

**_Hello all, name's Spitfire, I only go by that name, at least online. This is how you know I'm talking to you and that you're not reading part of the story, it'll be bold and in italics. Hard to miss right? Any way! I like to give a proper synopsis of all my stories but I'll skip that this time (just this once!) and get straight to the story ok? Enjoy! _**

**_Thanks for Reading, Fly High Aim Higher,_**

**_~ Spitfire out (before you ask, yes, this is my way of doing an signature online and you'll be seeing it a lot)_**

**Echo's P.O.V:**

"Echo! No!" was the last thing I heard from Fives before the ship behind me was blown up and I was engulfed in complete blackness.

I still felt the many injuries of being caught in that explosion. The burns that I got seem to go head to toe, a couple broken ribs from being slammed into a dura-steel wall and leaving a dent, in the wall instead of his armor that was now scorched. My helmet had been thrown off and he didn't know where it had ended up. It was likely that I had a bad concussion after that, if only Kix were here. I couldn't help wondering if Fives had made it, if the mission had been a success. If Fives had made it I knew he feel depressed. I was sure everyone thought I was dead, so did I until I woke up back in the Citadel. Medical droids surrounding me, it was not a good feeling, waking up in a cold room in just my body suit with _separatist_ medical droids surrounding me.

One of the droids probed my arm and I couldn't help crying out in pain at the light touch. Definitely a burn, fourth degree maybe? I don't know; I'm not a medic. I could feel restraints around my wrists and ankles, holding me down. They would've finished me off by now if they wanted me dead, maybe they would've just left me where I was to rot and die. Either way, they wanted me alive; they wouldn't have medical droids patching me up if they didn't. I struggled lightly against the restraints, careful of the burns, no sense in making them hurt worse than they already did. I felt a sharp go into the skin on the side of my neck and I instantly fell asleep.

I woke up uneasily. I took notice of a blue field surrounding me and that my hands were trapped above me. I was restrained in an anti-gravity restraint unit (AGRU). If I struggled I'd be met with an electric current. My armor was gone so that'd be a bad idea. I looked up at my hands. My gauntlets! I still had them on! I needed to access the distress beacon in the wrist com-system. I ignored the chance of electrocution and began jerking my wrist, hoping that my distress beacon would be pressed against the binders and activate. The current shot through me and I couldn't stop a scream of pain. The current disappeared and I heard the small, steady beeping noise that told me the distress signal had been activated.


	2. Chapter 2

**_Hey, it's me again. If you're reading this, you've already read Chapter One with Echo after he gets blown up and you already know this is how I do A/N's! You've made it to Chapter Two which means you must've liked Chapter One! If you didn't like it, and don't like this one either, leave a comment saying what needs to change please!_**

**_Thanks for Reading, Fly High Aim Higher,_**

**_~Spitfire out_**

**Fives' P.O.V:**

I lay awake on my bunk. I couldn't sleep, haven't since Echo died. It'd been almost a month since we lost him. I managed to grab his empty helmet as I was ordered to retreat. To leave my dead brother. Now I just stared into the scorched formally white helmet, wishing that it had been me, not him. I hadn't been able to bring myself to eat anything and it was late. I didn't think anyone knew about me not sleeping. When others would say that I looked tired I just shrugged them off without a word and kept with my drills. Kix had probably noticed though, he notices everything. I looked to my right and saw the sleeping medic, his back turned toward me. I turned my head to the left and saw the empty bunk that once belonged to Echo. I sighed and sat up, still staring into the faceplate of the empty helmet in my hands.

I slid it on and was surprised when the HUD lit up. I was mainly just surprised that it still worked. Then a little red light flashed. A little red light was all it took to make me gasp and wake up the medic sleeping behind me.

"Fives?" Kix asked, sitting up, "Well, now I _know _you're not sleeping."

I didn't say anything; I just stared at the red flashing letters. 'Beacon Activated' I read it over and over and over, then looked below them at the coordinates it was activated at. The Citadel! Echo was still alive! I jumped up and pulled the helmet off, nearly shouting Echo's name as everyone else was woken up by the commotion.

Rex looked at me with a confused look and I tossed him Echo's helmet, "The distress beacon's been activated!" I said, trying to regain my composure, "He's still out there."

"Fives, there's no way anyone could've survived that, you have to accept that Echo's gone," Kix reasoned.

"No! I'm not giving up on him! That signal didn't get activated a month later by nothing! It had to be him, he's alive I know it!" I retorted angrily.

"We barely got out of there the first time, Fives, we can't go back there, we'll all be killed," Rex said, standing from his bunk.

"I'm not giving up him like the rest of you! We trained together, we fought together, and we'll die together!" I answered, as I put my armor on.

I noticed Rex and Kix exchange a worried glance as I continued to armor up.

"Well, I'm with you," Denal said, with a hand on my shoulder, "we shouldn't just give up on Echo."

I gave him a thankful smile.

"Fine, we'll go to the coordinates and if Echo's alive, we'll bring him home," Rex said, "but first, you need to get some sleep Fives."

Kix nodded in agreement with Rex. I sighed and took my armor back off, putting it back in my foot locker. Rex tossed me Echo's helmet and I set it on top of the locker. I lay back down on my back as everyone else returned to their bunks. I got the first bit of sleep in a month and first thing in the morning, we'd head out to find Echo.


	3. Chapter 3

**_Hello my faithful followers and readers! Here is Chapter Three of the ARC Survivor; I just wanted to let you know that Echo's P.O.V would be getting rather short because he's got nothing to do. I hope you're enjoying my story, if you are and even if you aren't, please let me know in the comments! I love getting feedback and it makes my day!_**

**_Thanks for Reading, Fly High Aim Higher,_**

**_~Spitfire out_**

**Echo's P.O.V:**

I couldn't stop yet another shout of agony as the whip was brought down across my chest again. They were demanding to know why my wrist com was beeping, there was no way to shut it off and if I told them why it was beeping they'd probably destroy it. Fives would lose any hope of finding me if that happened. I looked at my interrogator defiantly. He signaled the commando droids standing on either side of me and they both put their staffs to my sides, sending an electric current through me. I tried to hold back a scream of pain but couldn't.

The current disappeared and I was barely awake. _Hope they get here soon, not sure how much more of this I can take, _I thought to myself as the whip came across my bare chest again and I passed out.

I woke up again to the reassuring beep of my wrist com, they hadn't destroyed it yet. I was honestly surprised that it was still working after the explosion sent me flying one way and my helmet the other. I hated being restrained, it made me feel useless but right now, I didn't have the energy to struggle. I eyed the two commando droids guarding the door inside the small room. With nothing to do but struggle or sleep, I just stared at the two droids, wishing I could beat them into scraps. I was getting restless, I had to shoot something. I groaned in frustration at my imprisonment.

**Fives' P.O.V:**

I woke up early the next day and armored up before anyone else was even awake. But Kix, being the light sleeper he was, woke up while I was getting geared up.

"You do know Rex has to talk to General Skywalker about this first right?" he asked, getting up and putting his own gear on.

"Yeah, but Skywalker is always up for a suicide mission," I answered quietly, trying not to wake the others.

"True," Kix agreed with a chuckle.

I was already armored up and anxious to get going, to find my lost brother. _I'm coming for you Echo,_ I thought to myself. I ran down to the training room to try to work of my restlessness.

Then Rex's voice came over the helmet com system, "We're to report to the bridge as soon as we are geared up, the General wants to talk to us, didn't say what about."

I hurried to the bridge to see what Skywalker could possibly want to talk to us about. I stopped about halfway there and decided to grab Echo's helmet, I ran quickly to the barracks and saw Rex and everyone else still gearing up. I grabbed Echo's helmet off of my foot locker and waited for everyone else to finish gearing up.

"Up a bit early huh?" Jesse asked when I had come in.

I shrugged in response. Everyone finished and we headed to the bridge. I clipped Echo's helmet to my belt as we all gathered around the holo-table with General Skywalker and Commander Tano.

"Fives, I think you might be a bit partial to this mission," Skywalker started out, "We've received a distress beacon from somewhere on the Citadel."

"Sir, we already know about the beacon," Rex said when the General paused, "Fives held onto Echo's helmet, when someone activates their beacon, it gives a notification on the HUD, confirms the coordinates," Rex explained.

"Then I suppose this briefing will be rather short," Skywalker said with a slight tone of surprise, "I assume you've already checked the coordinates?"

"Yes, sir," I answered quickly, "and I'm willing to do anything to get Echo back from the seppies," I said, resting my rifle in the crook of my arm.

"Good to hear," Skywalker said, giving me a quick nod, "We leave in ten, be ready."

"Sir, what's the plan?" Rex asked.

"Same as last time, get in, find Echo, get out," he answered as he left.

"Fives," Rex addressed me, "considering how bent you are on getting Echo back, I'm putting you in charge."

I nodded in acknowledgement, "Kix, see to it that you have a med-console on standby for when we evac outta there."

"Already on it," Kix said, leaving the bridge.

"Make sure we're ready for whatever comes our way, we made it out once before, we'll make it out again, the only difference is that we're rescuing a brother, not a Jedi and his ship's captain," I said, addressing everyone.


	4. Chapter 4

**_Okay, not my best chapter ending ever last time… I'll try to do better this chapter, count on it! Here goes putting five plus years of experience to use, let's hope it actually looks like it. Don't forget to tell me what you think in the comments and if you have any suggestions at all I'd love to hear them, it makes my day every day I see a comment!_**

**_Thanks for Reading, Fly High Aim Higher,_**

**_~Spitfire out_**

**Echo's P.O.V:**

The interrogator had come back and was threatening to kill me so I made it seem like I was out cold so that I wouldn't have to deal with him or the commando droids with the electric staffs. He punched me in the chest and I had to fight myself to not react at all. The punch had knocked the wind out of me so it was hard not to cough trying to catch my breath. I could tell that he was thinking hard at the moment. I heard him let out an aggravated breath and leave. The room was empty aside from me. I breathed a sigh of relief and looked forward, yep, empty except for me.

_Hurry up Fives, don't know if I can keep this up, _I thought to myself.

**Fives' P.O.V:**

_Hang in there, just a little longer, Echo, we're coming, _I thought as I finished getting my weapons ready and going over the plan with the others.

"You sure this'll work, Fives?" Rex asked as we walked to the gunship.

"Yes, and if it doesn't, I'm still willing to do whatever it takes," I answered, walking ahead of him and boarding the gunship first, anxious to get going.

"That's why I put you in charge," Rex said as he stood next to me and the gunship took off, "When the rest of us had given up on Echo, you held onto the chance that he was still alive and won't let it go."

We filled Skywalker in on the plan and he agreed that it was solid and contacted the stolen separatist prisoner transport ship that was waiting outside the Resolute. At first the troopers on board questioned the plan but went along with it, binding our hands and stashing our weapons. Then I explained the thinking behind it and they went along willingly. I told them what they needed to say when they called in, asking about our cargo, the pilots were unsure about pretending to be separatists but went with it.

**Echo's P.O.V:**

The interrogator and a couple commando droids came back in after a while. I looked weakly up at them, no energy to do anything else. They disengaged the AGRU and I fell limply to the floor. The only movement I could manage was lifting my head a bit but it instantly fell back to the floor. The commando droids grabbed hold of my upper arms and half-carried, half-dragged me to a larger cell meant for more than one person and threw me inside. I landed on my stomach, my head turned to the side and barely conscious.


	5. Chapter 5

**_I wanted to thank the one person that commented last time, you don't have a profile so I can't reply or send you a PM so I got to do it here, not a problem for me since I do this every chapter! I'm so glad you liked it, as for who's on the mission that will be explained in this chapter, I was keeping that on the down low for suspense and to keep my readers on the edge. I love that you took the time to comment!_**

**_Now that the 'commenter shout-out' is done, I think I might do that every time someone comments, give a little shout out to people take the time to comment. Seems like a nice thing to do… Anyway! On to Chapter Five! Enjoy and let me know what you think or ask any questions you have!_**

**_Thanks for Reading, Fly High Aim Higher,_**

**_~Spitfire out_**

**Fives' P.O.V:**

Skywalker found a few deactivated droids on the ship and reprogrammed them to follow our orders; there was only room for three prisoners on the transport plus two guards, a few droids, and two pilots. The droids were told what they needed to say and do as we were locked in the three cells on the ship. Kix was an obvious choice for the job; we'd need a medic when we found Echo. Of course I would be going, being the closest friend to Echo. Rex came as well; his skill with dual DC-17's made him rather useful for the mission. The others got back on the gunship and went back to the Resolute.

Kix made sure his pack was only carrying what he needed to treat burns so that we could fit seven DC-17's in it. Three of us would be able to dual wield them someone would be left with just one. Though there were only three people that would have experience with using the two pistols. Our chest armor and helmets were removed and stashed but we kept our gauntlets and leg armor so Rex and I still had our Kamas and holsters, which were empty.

"Why did we bother fully gearing up if we were just going to stash the stuff away anyway?" Kix asked from across the room.

"It's got to be convincing, a separatist prisoner transport wouldn't be caught without the gear that was taken from the prisoners it's transporting," I explained.

"Good thinking," Rex commented from the cell beside me.

We were quiet the rest of the way. I could hear the droids talking in the cockpit, answering an unheard question.

"We've caught some republic dogs, we have orders to deliver them to you for interrogation," one of the droids said.

I could hear someone talking but couldn't make out the context then the droid responded again, "Roger, roger," it confirmed.

After a little while the three droids came back to our cells and unbound then rebound our hands behind our heads. The ship landed and we were guided out with rifles pointed at our backs. We stepped off of the ship to see a team of the warden's elite commando droids waiting. Rex and I exchanged a look, normally they'd send normal commandos but these were the elites. It was possible that he was stepping up security after we had escaped the first time.

We were taken inside by the six commando elites. Three had rifles at each of our backs and the others were guiding us. We eventually came to the control center and were lined up in front of the warden. He looked us over for a moment and chuckled, ordering the droids to take us to lock up.

**Echo's P.O.V:**

I could feel myself waking up but couldn't open my eyes or move. There was a hand on my chest and a voice identical to my own.

"He's an ARC Rex;" the voice sounded angry, "ARC's survive!"

I could guess the hand and the voice were Fives'. They had come, but what were they doing in the cell? Surely they would want to get out of here as soon as they found me. I managed to groan and there was a second had pushing the one on my chest away.

"I think he's coming to," another voice said, "I can't say I'm not surprised. With burns this bad it's a wonder he's still alive."

From that I assumed it was Kix. I slowly got my eyes open, blinking a few times to clear up the blurriness and to stop the room from spinning.

"Fives?" I managed to ask, a weak tone to my voice.

"I'm here, vod, we're going to get you out of here," he responded, his hand back on my chest.

I tried to sit up but Kix stopped me, "Easy, those burns are bad; I'd say they were almost fifth degree."

Then I saw Rex step into view, "Captain," I greeted, trying to sit up again but was stopped by the pain of the burns pulling.

"Don't even think about thanking _me _for this," he said, kneeling beside me, "it was all Fives this time. Put him in charge since he's the only one that didn't give up on you."

Never thought I'd see the day when Rex gave Fives command of the squad.

"Kix?" Rex asked, that was all that needed to be said; Kix obviously knew what the captain was asking for.

"Sooner we get him to a bacta tank the better, but he'll make it," Kix answered, "gonna have some impressive scarring after this though."


	6. Chapter 6

**_Thank you to ahsokatano191, SlySenran408, and Dani (Guest) for taking the time to comment! To the three of you: I really started writing this because I thought the concept of Fives being the last of the Dominos was depressing. That may or may not also be a concept used in this chapter or a later one, it depends on if I can fit the line I'm thinking of in right! I'm so glad you guys are enjoying my story. I will continue to get updates out as fast as I can._**

**_Thanks for Reading, Fly High Aim Higher,_**

**_~Spitfire out_**

**Fives' P.O.V:**

Echo passed out again soon after waking up and Kix was working on his burns. I was looking on worriedly. He was in pretty bad shape, Kix and Rex doubted he'd make it.

"Fives, you have to accept that Echo might not make it," Rex said with a hand on my shoulder.

I glared back at him, "I won't! I'm not just going to accept that I'm the last of the dominos just _waiting _for my turn to fall! I will _not _let him go, Rex!" I said angrily, though he was probably right, Kix had said that fourth degree burns were bad enough as is but that they were almost the deadly fifth degree.

Rex gave me a look as if he wanted to say something but didn't. He was obviously either pissed off or just plain surprised that I had yelled at him.

"You find anything else we should be worried about, Kix?" Rex asked, apparently trying to distract himself from the exchange.

"Nothing too bad, a couple broken ribs is the worst of it if you don't count the burns. Got a fractured elbow, debris probably landed on him, some large bruises on his back and shoulder," Kix answered.

"As soon as the guard droids come in we make our escape," I said, not looking away from Echo as I holstered two DC-17's and Rex did the same.

The door to our cell opened and four commando elites walked in. Rex and I exchanged a look and shot them out, and then shooting the cameras for good measure so that they wouldn't know which way we went.

"Let's get out of here," I said, looking back as Kix picked the unconscious Echo up.

"It might prove easier said than done, Fives," Rex said as more commandos, regular ones this time, turned the corner, we dispatched of the group quickly and shot any cameras we could see.

"I don't care if it's easy, I just want to get us all out in one piece," I said, peeking around a corner, "clear, for now."

We rounded the corner quietly and set up a det on the wall that led outside to the landing pad that our ship was waiting on.

"You're doing a hell of a good job," Rex commented, blowing the det.

We rushed outside, Kix hanging back to protect the unconscious form on his shoulders. There was a mess of red blaster fire mixed with little blue from the small band of three clones, two dual wielding their DC-17's the other with just one. Droids fell quickly and they were on the side of the landing pad that they had a shot on any droid that tried to mount the anti-air guns. Once the droids were dispatched there was an alarm going off.

"We better hurry before the reinforcements arrive," I said, rigging a det on one of the AA guns.

"Working as fast as I can," Rex said, placing a det on the other one.

When he finished we hurried to our shuttle and it took off, launching us into space as we blew the guns so that we couldn't be shot down.

"Well, that went better than expected," Kix said, lying Echo down.

"Did it now?" a voice said, the owner unseen but the voice itself disturbingly familiar.

We all looked toward the three cells to see the warden and a team of just three elite commandos.

Rex and I pointed our blasters at him, Kix pulled Echo back to a safer place, the bay was about to become a battlefield.

The commandos pointed their rifles at us, along with the warden who sported his own DC-17, probably stolen from a prisoner.

He laughed evilly, "It looks like we have a stalemate here," he said dauntingly.

"Not exactly," from behind us came a voice identical to my own.

I looked back, keeping my pistols pointed at the warden and a commando elite. I saw Kix supporting Echo. Both of them had a pistol out and were pointing the weapons at the scum that stood in front of me. I shot them both a thankful smile and looked forward.

"Drop your weapons and we'll consider letting you live," I threatened, shifting a bit to get a more steady shot.

The warden hesitated, "Kill them!" he shouted to the droids who were immediately shot down, one of them had time to fire off a single shot.

I didn't feel the impact on my chest, I was still standing though and I could tell from the shocked looks from everyone that I shouldn't have been. I looked down at my chest to see a smoking hole in my armor and I dropped my pistols as my body went slack and I passed out.

**Echo's P.O.V:**

"Fives!" I called worriedly as he fell to the ground.

Kix got immediately to work.

After a little while he chuckled slightly, "This is a little overly familiar, would be even more so if it was Rex that got hit."

"What?" Rex asked.

"Same thing that happened to you on Solucomi," Kix said, not looking up, "two inches to the left and it would've gone straight through his heart, and then there's the temporary nerve damage."

"Is he okay?" I asked, not looking away from Fives' fallen form.

"Yeah, he'll be fine; the only difference between this and what happened to Rex is that this is a shot from an assault rifle, not a _sniper_ rifle," Kix explained, "not quite as bad but still bad enough for him to be out for a day."

I sighed in relief at hearing the news that he was okay, "Good," I said quietly.

"You let me worry about this, get some rest," Kix said and then paused, looking momentarily up at Rex, "both of you."

Rex rolled his eyes at the medic's over caution but complied and we both went to where the crew quarters were, letting Kix do his work.

_Thanks vod, you risked everything to save me, _ I though, giving one last look at Fives, pain frozen in his expression.


	7. Chapter 7

**_First off, I lost track of who all commented on the last chapter but I think it was just one person saying thanks or something… My memory leaves something to be desired to be honest… Anyway! On to the epicness that is Chapter Seven! I'm going to take my readers' suggestions into play now and start getting into the heads of Rex and Kix! As always enjoy and let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions or questions, feel free to voice both! I may or may not continue this after Echo's and Fives' recoveries (though Fives doesn't have as much 'recovering' to do as Echo…) and put them both at Umbara, but I don't know; we'll see when I get there, okay?_**

**_Thanks for Reading, Fly High Aim Higher,_**

**_~Spitfire out_**

**Rex's P.O.V:**

After we got back to the shuttle we put our chest and arm armor back on. Kix didn't bother; he immediately got to work on Echo, grabbing what supplies he needed. We had a day or two until we caught up to the Resolute which we had ordered to flee so that it couldn't get shot down and we wouldn't be compromised by the presence of a Republic cruiser. Luckily Fives was smart enough to have the transport fully equipped for any medical emergencies. Though he might not admit it, Fives was quite the leader.

"Well, that went better than expected," Kix commented, lying Echo down on the floor of the ship.

"Did it now?" a disturbingly familiar voice came from behind us and we all looked towards the three cells to see the warden and three commando elites come out of hiding.

Fives and I drew our twin blasters and took aim, I took up two of the droids in the sights, I had the feeling Fives was aiming at the other droid and the warden.

He chuckled evilly, "Looks like we have a stalemate here," he said as the droids pulled their blasters and he drew his own DC-17.

"Not exactly," a weak, tired voice came from behind me and I saw Fives look back without taking his aim from the warden and droid.

He looked forward again with a cocky grin, "Drop your weapons and we'll _consider _letting you live," he threatened, eyeing the warden.

The warden paused, apparently thinking for a moment, "Kill them!" he shouted to the droids.

We shot first but one of the droids managed to get a shot off before going down. I could hear the overly familiar sound of a blaster shot connecting with plastoid armor and burning through into the body. It wasn't me that was hit; I didn't hear two bodies hitting the floor so it couldn't have been Kix or Echo. As a matter of fact, I didn't hear _anyone_ fall. Fives had put a shot through the warden's leg, immobilizing him.

I looked to the side and saw him still aiming, breathing heavily and could feel shock reflected on my face as I saw the hole burned into his chest plate. I looked at Kix out of the corner of my eye and saw that he and Echo were giving Fives the same look, it must've gone all the way through; they couldn't see his chest. Even the warden was giving a shocked look at Fives. He noticed the looks and looked down at the hole in his chest. The pistols slipped from his hands as his body went limp and he crumpled to the ground.

"Fives!" Echo had called worriedly, shaking Kix off and running to his brother's side as he fell.

Kix pushed Echo to the side so he could get to Fives and remove the armor. He examined the wound and chuckled slightly.

"This is a little overly familiar, would be even more so if it were Rex that got hit," he said, apparently talking to himself.

"What?" I asked, wondering how it could be so familiar.

"Same thing that happened to you on Solucomi," Kix said without looking up from his work, "two inches to the left and it would've gone straight through his heart, and then there's the temporary nerve damage."

"Is he okay?" Echo asked.

"Yeah, he'll be fine; the only difference between this and what happened to Rex is that this was an assault, not a sniper," Kix explained, "not quite as bad but still bad enough for him to be out for a day."

I heard Echo sigh in what sounded like relief, "Good," he said quietly.

"You let me worry about this, get some rest," Kix looked up momentarily at me, "_both_ of you."

I rolled my eyes at his over caution but did what Kix said and went to the crew quarters with Echo. We both lay down on one of the five bunks in the room. I had already restrained the warden and locked him in one of the cells. I fell asleep slowly.

**Kix's P.O.V:**

It was worse than what I had said. The blaster shot had burned all the way through Fives' body and out the back of his armor. No normal ammunition would be able to go through one clone and into another. I looked down at where the shot had barely burned into my gut. No time to worry about myself got to help Fives. No one had noticed that I had been hit. My wound was bleeding heavily but Fives' was worse off, I had to get him patched up first.

I was starting to feel dizzy from the blood loss and my normally quick, precise movements were slow and weak. _Have to stay awake, have to get him patched up, _I told myself, wiping a bead of sweat from my brow with my sleeve. I managed to patch Fives up and he was waking up as I fell over and passed out.

I woke up where I had passed out with a groan, realizing I was on my back rather than my side. I noticed Rex leaning over me.

I groaned again, "Shoulda put my armor on," I said, sitting myself up.

"Very funny, Kix," Rex said sarcastically.

I looked around the room to notice that Rex and I were the only ones here, "Where're Echo and Fives?" I asked.

"Both asleep," Rex answered, helping me to my feet, "Fives is the one that got me up, told me you were out cold, Echo hasn't woken up since he fell asleep in the crew quarters and it took some doing to get Fives to not come back here to check on you himself."

"How long till we get to the Resolute?" I asked, Echo needed a bacta tank, he wouldn't make it without one and there was still a good chance he wouldn't make it even with it.

"We're almost there, just a few more hours until we dock," he answered, supporting me as I almost fell trying to stand on my own, "you're in bad shape, what happened?"

"The shot that took Fives down burned all the way through him and hit me," I answered, placing my hand over the now treated injury, "need to check on the both of them."

"No, you need to rest," Rex said, helping me towards the crew quarters, "the medics on the Resolute can take care of them and you."

"I'm fine, Rex," I protested as he put me down on an empty bunk, Echo and Fives both asleep across from me.

"And I thought I was stubborn," Rex muttered, pushing me to lie down, "get some sleep."

Rex was right, I needed to rest but I also needed to check on Echo, he'd been having trouble breathing and I wanted to see that he was still okay. I looked to the left and saw Echo on his side facing me. The burns were visible on half his face and I could see the rise and fall of his sides as he breathed steadily, good he was breathing normally but I still needed to check his other vitals. Not that I could get up and stay up on my own. I sighed in defeat, nothing I could do if his vitals were off anyway. I fell asleep slowly.

I woke up back aboard the Resolute with another medic tending to my wound. I didn't let him know that I was awake; he'd just ask me a bunch of questions that I really didn't feel like answering.

"How long was I out?" I asked when the medic noticed that I was awake.

"Depends on when you passed out," he answered, helping me sit up.

"What are you talking about, Coric? I fell asleep, I didn't pass out," I said pointedly.

"Then you must've passed out in your sleep, otherwise you would've woken up the second we moved you.

"Great," I said sarcastically, "What about Echo and Fives?" I asked, changing the subject.

"Fives will be fine, Echo, we're not sure yet, he's in a bacta tank though," Coric answered, "How'd you get hit anyway? Take a shot for a brother?"

"Not exactly," I said, looking down at my injury, "The shot that got Fives went all the way through as you saw. I should've been wearing armor but I didn't bother putting it on, I was more concerned with helping Echo. When Fives got hit no one noticed my injury, I didn't let them in on it, had Rex and Echo go rest. Passed out from blood loss after helping Fives," I explained.

"Right, well, you're fine, just take it easy," Coric said, helping me to my feet, "should probably just go back to the barracks and lie down. Don't even _think _about doing PT, you can hardly stand as is."

"I wasn't thinking about doing PT, Coric," I said pointedly.

"Then what were you thinking about?" he asked skeptically.

"Echo," I answered simply, "Fives is convinced he'll make it but those burns are almost fifth degree. On the ship, while I was treating the burns, he made some remark to Rex about not being the last of the dominos just waiting for his turn to fall. Those two trained together and have fought together all their lives."

"I noticed, can't get Fives to go back to the barracks, he just sits by the tank," Coric cut me off before I could keep ranting about the two.

Coric helped me to the barracks and set me down on my bunk, "Don't do anything stupid, you stubborn di'kut," he warned as he left.


	8. Chapter 8

**_Woo! For them two not being the main focus of the story that was quite a bit of action. Who knew medics were so stubborn when they get hurt? I did, they complain about someone else being a stubborn di'kut yet they are stubborn themselves. Probably because they were trained to risk their lives to save another's. I'll do a chapter or two on the recovery time and then the chapter that confirms the end (unless I decide to do the Umbara episodes, and man do I have some ideas for those!)._**

**_Thanks for Reading, Fly High Aim Higher,_**

**_~Spitfire out_**

**Echo's P.O.V:**

My body felt like lead when I woke up next. Everything was a fuzzy haze as I looked around, trying to figure out where I was. I looked to the side and could see someone sitting beside me, though I couldn't make out who it was. My sight started clearing up and I managed to identify the clone sitting by my side.

"Fives," I said, though it came out as more of a groan than a name.

He looked toward me, "Echo! You're awake!" he said excitedly.

"Yeah, Fives, I know I'm awake," I said with a moan.

"Medic said you might not wake up," Fives shrugged, "It's good to see that you did, vod."

"How long was I out?" I asked curiously.

"Two weeks," Fives answered, "long enough for me and Kix to recover."

"What happened to Kix?" I wasn't aware he'd been injured.

"When I got hit, it went all the way through and got him too," he answered, "Kix wanted me to get him when you woke up," Fives mentioned, "I'll be back in a minute," he added as he left the room.

I could feel my eyes starting to lull back in my head as I passed out again but I resisted it. _No, I have to stay awake until Fives gets back with Kix, have to be awake_ I thought to myself as I struggled to stay awake.

I heard a door open and close along with two sets of quickened footsteps, "Fives," I managed to groan before succumbing to the fatigue I had been fighting.

**Fives' P.O.V:**

"Echo," I tried to get him to respond but he was already out.

Kix was shifting quickly through screens on a nearby monitor. Eventually one came up that was flashing red. Kix enlarged it to get a better look at the data on the screen.

"He's going into a stasis," he said, moving to Echo's side.

"Kix, you can put that in Mando'a for all I care, just put it in a way I can understand you," I said quickly.

"A stasis," Kix repeated, "his heart rate is slowing down, inducing a sleep, there's little to no chance he'll wake up from it and it's impossible to predict whether he will or not," he explained.

"How do we keep him out of it?"

"Adrenaline rush would do the trick," Kix said, facing me, "but unless that happens, there's nothing I can do about it."

"I can do that," I said drawing one of my DC-17's.

"What are you doing?" Kix asked in shock.

"Nothing gives a sleeping clone an adrenaline rush like the sound of a blaster, Kix, you ought to know that by now," I said, pointing the blaster up and pulling the trigger.

Echo snapped awake, "Droids!" he shouted worriedly.

Kix stopped him from shooting up with a chuckle, "Easy, Echo, need to check a few things before I can let you up," he said, pushing Echo back down.

"What was with the blaster shot?" Echo asked, staying down as told.

"You were about to go into a stasis, Fives brought you out of it though," Kix said, shifting through the screens on the monitor again.

"So I guess that means you'll be keeping me down for a while longer?" Echo asked disappointedly.

"On the contrary actually, don't want you going into a stasis and to avoid it, we got to keep your heart rate up," Kix said as he closed out all the screens, "Looking good, Echo, you can stand but take it slow."

Echo sat up and slowly managed his way to his feet. He was shaky so I supported him until he got his balance. He looked glad to be back on his feet, standing without help.

"Rex wanted to see the both of you," Kix said as he left, "Fives," he started but I cut him off.

"Like I'm going to leave him alone, Kix," I said, knowing he was going to tell me to keep an eye on Echo.

Kix shrugged and left.

"Where's my armor?" Echo asked.

"We've only got your gauntlets and helmet," I said with a sigh, "we couldn't find anything else."

"So, my chest plates are gone?" Echo asked disbelievingly.

I could only nod in response, the chest plates had been a good memory, the handprint Rex had left on his armor after killing the giant eel on Rishi; it was hard to believe that Echo wouldn't have that defining handprint on his chest anymore.

"Come on, we should go see what Rex wants," I said, backing up a step, keeping my eye on Echo incase he had trouble walking after so long lying down.

He took a shaky, unbalanced step forward but stayed on his feet. He stepped up beside me and I walked with him, slowing my pace to match his. We found Rex in the barracks talking to a few of the guys.

Rex looked over at us as he dismissed the troopers in front of him

"Fives, Echo," he greeted as we came up to him, "I found something that might interest the both of you."

Echo and I exchanged a look, both of us obviously wondering what it could possibly be that Rex found. Then he grabbed a bag off of the bunk next to him, Echo's bunk, and handed it to Echo.

"It could use a good cleaning but it's all still intact," Rex said as Echo took it and opened the bag.

An amused grin appeared on Echo's face, "My kit," he said simply, pulling out the scorched chest plate with the blue handprint on it.


	9. Chapter 9- Scars

**_I know, I know, the ending last chapter was cheesy and expected as soon as Echo asked where his kit was. I also know I'm a bit late getting this chapter out; I had a virus and a hacker so I wasn't able to get online for a while. Anyway, here's the next chapter of ARC Survivor and I've also decided to do the Umbara episodes starting after this one! I'm just as excited to write it as you are to read it. This will probably be the only chapter with a name because I thought of an awesome one for it…_**

**_Thanks for Reading, Fly High Aim Higher,_**

**_~Spitfire out_**

**Echo's P.O.V:**

"Echo, it's good to see you back on your feet and in your armor," Denal said entering the barracks where I was gearing up to go to the training room to get back in shape.

"Good to see you too, had enough of those tinnies; it's good to be around brothers again," I said with a slight smile as I tucked away a data pad that still had a reg manual displayed on the screen.

Fives was standing beside me as always and stifled a laugh when he saw the information on the screen.

"Yeah, you're definitely back to your old self," Fives commented when I shot him an annoyed yet joking look.

I rolled my eyes at his friendly teasing and grabbed my helmet which had recently been replaced seeing as the rangefinder had been destroyed along with the majority of the HUD guidance systems. I had managed to clean my armor well enough; most of the scorch marks on it were permanent though. The important thing was that you could still make out the blue handprint on my chest. It was a defining symbol for me. It stood out so much that I didn't need to do much with the rest of my armor; someone could see the handprint and know immediately who was behind the helmet.

"Let's get going, I've been down long enough, I need to get back to it," I said, leaving the barracks with Fives still by my side.

We walked down the training room where Rex was already running around the track with a few other guys in the squad. The saw us and motioned for us to fall in, we did quickly and kept pace easily.

The run was long and hard but it felt good to be moving around on my own again. We finished the run and then did some target practice. After a month or two out of action I was still one of the best shooters on the squad. Jesse made some kind of joke out of it but I didn't pay attention to it. I had my helmet off when we walked back to the barracks and I noticed a few looks from the shiny squad that had just gotten here a couple days ago. They looked a mixture of things, scared, intimidated, and curious. I wondered what could've made them look at me like that. Was it my scorched armor, the fact that I was an ARC? Another group of well seasoned troopers passed us by and gave me the same look. I noted that I hadn't seen either of the squads after getting back to the Resolute. It was my first time seeing the shiny squad and the last time I had seen Chopper's squad was before we went to the Citadel.

We got back to the barracks and I passed by one of the view ports and caught a glimpse of my reflection that made me do a double take. I backed up a few steps to be able to see my full reflection. Even distorted I could see what had made the troopers look at me in such a weird way. I stood there staring at my face in shock.

Coming up from underneath my armor, climbing up my neck and covering almost half of the right side of my face were burn scars that made a flame pattern over the bridge of my nose, over one eye, and had burned away parts of my hair to permanently imprint the flame pattern into the base and hairline.

I was so focused on the scaring that I jumped when Fives placed his hand lightly on my shoulder.

"Kix said you'd have some 'impressive' scaring," he said looking me in the eye.

"Yeah, might have to start calling you Scorch!" Jesse joked, maybe it was a joke; it was hard to, to tell.

Denal threw a pillow at him and the two troopers that were already right next to each other started wrestling. I rolled my eyes at them and looked back at the scars.

**Fives' P.O.V:**

Rex let the two guys fight it out. It wasn't uncommon between them, especially since they were just messing around. Echo rolled his eyes at them and looked back at his flame like scars. He sighed and went back to his bunk as Jesse and Denal stopped fighting.

"Hey, at least you're back in action rather than having to sit on the sidelines," I said, sitting down on my bunk, facing him.

"Yeah," he said simply as he lay down.

Echo took out his data pad with at least five reg manuals on it and flipped through a few screens. He was about to turn the screen again when he hesitated, sighed, and put the pad down.

"These scars are just a reminder that I lived and Heavy didn't," he said, tossing the data pad to me.

I looked down at the screen and saw the picture Domino squad had taken the morning Rishi had been attacked. Heavy was in the middle with his arms around me and Echo, Cutup was kneeling in front of him, and Droidbait was beside me. I could tell there was someone behind me but I didn't care. I looked back up at Echo, he was staring at me. I took his scorched helmet from beside me and tossed it to him.

"Put it on," I said quietly.

He looked at me questioningly as he caught the helmet but slid it on anyway. I knew what he'd be looking at because I was the one who had put it there. I had meant to get the helmet repaired so that I could use it. It was just a few days after we had gotten away from the Citadel that I had put the picture in the helmet, beside the visor so that I could always see it.

It was a picture of me and Echo, my arm around his neck. It was taken the day after we had been made ARC's we already had our armor and had it painted. Our helmets were off and we were both laughing at something Jesse had done. I couldn't remember what it was that had made us laugh so hard but it was still funny nonetheless.

He didn't take the helmet off and it took me a little while to realize that he had fallen asleep. I lay down and closed my eyes, ignoring all the curious looks from the squad, and fell asleep.


End file.
